


Doing the Plant Thing

by Wonderlandleighleigh



Series: Just This Once, Everybody Lives [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Chuck (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: AU, Avengers Engame, F/M, Gen, Kidfic, Some Fluff, endgame spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-27 08:05:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18734980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wonderlandleighleigh/pseuds/Wonderlandleighleigh
Summary: Steve Rogers, after the end.  He gardens. He raises the little blonde girl nobody came to claim. And maybe he lives a little.Maybe.





	Doing the Plant Thing

“You helped save the world, Captain,” the Mayor of New York tells him. “The least we can do is let you keep your garden...also Tony Stark bought the entire block that your apartment building and the garden are on. So technically you can do whatever you want with it.” 

Steve doesn’t know whether to laugh or roll his eyes, so he does neither. 

He goes home. To his garden, and the little girl that was abandoned two years after the snap on the doorstep of his makeshift children’s home.

Maggie is almost three now. Walking and talking; a whirlwind of fluffy blonde hair and big blue eyes and baby teeth. 

The garden and the kid. It’s pretty close to happiness, Steve thinks. 

Close enough.

***** 

He sees the kids he helped out pretty often. They come by after school and on weekends to help out with the garden and play with Maggie; to see him. Sometimes they play games of pick-up baseball or watch movies. The parents join them on sunny days, bringing food to share, and there are so many of them that it turns into an impromptu picnic or cookout.

It’s nice.

But mostly, it’s just Steve and Maggie and the garden. 

And it’s good. Steve really likes being a dad, and now that things with child services are settled, and there’s been a home visit and they’ve done some digging for Maggie’s birth parents that’s turned up basically nothing, they’ve settled into routines. 

Bath times and story times and dinners...Steve’s got Maggie signed up for preschool for next year. Sometimes they go visit the Starks and Morgan and Maggie play together. 

He loves this kid more than he's ever loved anything in his life. He’s more grateful than he can express to have this little ray of sunshine running around. 

But peace and quiet rarely last forever, at least for Steve Rogers.

Maggie’s napping on a bench swing, and he’s elbow-deep in soil when Sharon Carter steps through the gates. He’s glad to see a friendly face, though it’s been a long time. Even before the snap, they’d lost touch; Steve and his team on the run, and Sharon running with the CIA. There are no hurt or hard feelings. Life does what it does and they’ve both made choices.

Steve gets to his feet and walks over, smiling at her. “I’d offer you a hug, but I’m covered in dirt.” 

Sharon smiles back and kisses his cheek. “S’okay, Steve.” She looks around, crossing her arms. “Wow. This place is really something.” 

“Five years in, and it’s not half bad, huh?” Steve asks casually. “The Sarah Rogers Memorial Community Garden.” He grins sadly. “But something tells me you’re not here to talk about sugar snap peas.” 

She looks caught off guard for a moment. “Do you have those here? I love sugar snap peas.” 

He chuckles. “What can I do for you, Agent Carter?” 

Sharon grins sheepishly and shoves her hands into the pockets of her jeans. “Well...I have a couple of favors I need to ask.” 

“Shoot.” 

She huffs out a breath and looks at him. “So...I have this friend from the Company. She’s having a hard time adjusting now that everyone is back.” 

“She survived the first snap?” Steve asks, his face going serious. 

“She did,” Sharon confirms. “She was one of the only CIA operatives who did. And...she did amazing things after Thanos wiped out half the population. She traveled the world, making sure that government secrets didn’t get out. That nuclear codes were secure. She spent five years making sure what was left of the global intelligence community had its shit together and she did it quietly, and with almost no casualties. Unlike a certain cracked archer we know.” 

“I’m not thrilled about Clint’s methods for dealing with grief, believe me,” Steve tells her. 

“He’s just lucky he helped save the universe,” Sharon says, shaking her head. “So this friend...she needs a break. She jumped right back into work when everybody came back, but she’s exhausted. I heard about Tony buying your building...I thought maybe she could crash in one of the empty apartments for a couple of months. She takes a breather, comes back fresh…” 

“Why here?” Steve asks. 

“She thought about going back to Detroit where she’s from...staying with her mom for a while, but it’s far.” 

“And if you need her in DC, New York is closer,” Steve nods. “Well…” he looks around, squinting in the sunlight. “I don’t see why not.” 

Sharon smiles. “Thanks, Steve.” 

“What was the other thing you wanted to ask me?” he asks, looking at her curiously. 

She purses her lips and shrugs awkwardly. “Well...I was kind of wondering if you would be okay if I asked Sam out on a date.” 

Steve blinks, and he laughs, hanging his head and rubbing his eyes. 

“Jesus, Carter, we’re not teenagers.” 

Sharon laughs, too, punching him in the arm. “I’m trying to be sensitive, you dick.” 

“Go date Sam,” Steve snaps, still laughing. “And send your friend over whenever she’s ready. I’ll prep the other units.” 

He gets another cheek kiss, and just like that, Sharon is gone again, and the garden is quiet, save for Maggie’s soft breathing. 

***** 

Her name is Zondra Rizzo. CIA Special Operative Zondra Rizzo, and she shows up with nothing but two duffel bags and a soup pot. 

But those aren’t the first things that Steve notices about her.

Oh, no. 

The first thing he notices about CIA Special Operative Zondra Rizzo is that she is stunningly beautiful; tall and dark-haired and athletic with big, dark eyes.

She absolutely looks like she can dropkick people who are twice her size into next week.

Including Steve. 

He gets to his feet, eyes wide as she walks up to the front stoop. 

“You Rogers?” she asks, holding all her things. 

“Hi,” he says, dumbfounded. “Hi.” He shakes his head out. “Yes. Steve Rogers. You must be Zondra Rizzo.” 

She nods and takes a breath. “Yeah. Hi.” 

“Hi.” 

“You said that twice already,” she points out.

“Sorry,” he blurts out. “Sorry. I uh...Welcome to the building. Lemme uh…” He stumbles back on the steps towards the door, almost knocking himself over. “I went through and fixed up one of the units for you. Repainted and cleaned up the hardwood.” He cringes inwardly at that last word. “I’m on the top floor. I gave you one of the units on the third floor. It’s real nice.” 

She follows him up quietly, and Steve stops trying to fill the silence. When they get to the third floor, he pushes open the door to the unit on the right, and lets her in first. 

All of the apartments in the building are spacious and airy, and this one is no exception. 

Zondra sighs deeply and sets her bags down, still holding the soup pot. “Thanks, Captain. I’m gonna get settled.” 

Steve nods, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “If you need anything...I’m on the top floor.” 

“You said.” 

“Right,” Steve nods. “I did. Sorry.” He pulls the key to the unit off of his keyring and hands it over. “I uh...I’ll leave you to it.” 

She grins at him, obviously a little amused and takes the key. “Thanks again.” 

Steve gives an awkward wave, and stumbles out, closing the door and heading quickly up the stairs to his own apartment. 

When he gets there, he slams his head against the door. 

“I still don’t know a bloody thing about women,” he mutters. 

He’s about to slam his head one more time, when Maggie tugs at his fingers. “No, Daddy. No owie.” 

Steve blows out a breath and nods, stroking the little girl’s wild mane of blonde hair from her eyes. “You’re right, Magpie. No owie.” 

***** 

Things don’t change too much. Zondra keeps to herself, and Steve and Maggie go on as normal. They see their neighbor in passing, and she’s always incredibly nice to Maggie, and polite to Steve, even though he continues to act like a dingus. 

He learns a lot about being a parent, and what it means to put the wellbeing of one tiny little person before the needs of the world at large. It’s a nice change, if a little weird. 

“Do you think...?” Maggie asks one day. 

“Do I think what?” Steve encourages gently as he uses a spatula to scrape some fresh cookies from a hot baking sheet. Another skill he’s learned since spending so much time around kids. 

“Do you think Miss Zondra wants some cookies?” Maggie asks. 

Steve blinks, surprised. “I dunno, Magpie. You wanna go ask her? That’s a very nice thing to do, share our cookies.” 

Maggie nods and hops down from her stool (it’s bright yellow and it exists for the sole purpose of letting Maggie see what Steve does on the kitchen counters). “I go ask!” 

She dashes out of the kitchen and right for the front door and Steve, super soldier speed and all, is actually not quick enough to catch her before she’s out in the hall and climbing down the stairs. 

He laughs and scoops her up. “Margaret Sarah Rogers, where do you think you’re goin?” 

“I ask Miss Zondra about...about cookies?” Maggie says, looking at him like he should know this, and he’s a dummy for asking stupid questions.

“Not without me you’re not,” Steve tells her. “Don’t run out the door by yourself again unless the building’s on fire.”

“Okay,” Maggie pouts guiltily, and it earns her a kiss on the temple. 

Steve takes a deep breath, stealing himself a little for another potentially awkward conversation, but knocks when they get to Zondra’s door. 

It swings open in about thirty seconds, and there she is. Still beautiful, but looking decidedly less tense than she arrived.

“Hey,” she says, leaning against the door jamb. She smiles widely at Maggie. “Hi, there, Sunshine girl. What can I do for the Rogers’ today?” 

“We made cookies!” Maggie cries, throwing her arms above her head in celebration. 

“We did,” Steve chuckles. “And Maggie wanted to know if you wanted some.” 

“That’s really nice,” Zondra grins. “Thank you, I would love some cookies.” 

Maggie beams and then turns to Steve. “Daddy did you bring cookies?” 

Steve snorts out a laugh. “Ah, no. I was too busy chasing after you, running outta the apartment like bat outta hell.” 

“What’s hell?” Maggie asks. 

“Nothin,” Steve shakes his head, blinking rapidly at his snafu. “Don’t worry about it.” He looks at Zondra and grins sheepishly. “The cookies are upstairs.” 

“Ah,” she says. “Well...have you guys had dinner? I just made a whole mess of pasta with marinara sauce, and I was gonna save it for leftovers, but I can always make more.” 

“I like pasta,” Maggie says, lighting up. 

“But we don’t wanna impose,” Steve adds. 

“You’re not,” Zondra waves him off. “Gimme a minute, I’ll meet you upstairs at your place with the pot.” 

“Yay!” Maggie cheers. “Pasta!” 

Steve laughs softly. “Okay. Uh...see you in a few.”

***** 

Dinner goes surprisingly well, which Steve chalks up to Maggie being so cute. 

“She starts preschool next year,” Steve tells Zondra. “She can count to twenty, and she can write her name, and she knows her ABC’s.” 

“Dang,” Zondra comments. “That’s pretty advanced for a three-year-old, isn’t it?” 

“According to Pepper, they’ve gotta be really ready to hit the ground runnin’,” Steve shrugs. “It’s tough, cuz I just want her to be able to play in the garden, and run around like a kid, but we’re finding a good balance.” He turns and smiles at Maggie. “Right, Magpie?” 

She lights up, looking excited. “Cookie time?” 

Zondra laughs as Steve frowns. “At least she’s got her priorities straight.” 

*****

Cookies are eaten, and bedtime is enforced, and that leaves Steve and Zondra to sit on the balcony of his apartment with a couple of beers, and the view in front of them. 

“Sharon told me what you were up to after the snap,” Steve says. “I wanted to thank you for that. It was a thankless job, and you have to be pretty amazing to pull it off.” 

Zondra sighs and sips her beer. “Everybody was gone. My mom. My sisters. Friends and coworkers. If I’m honest, I just needed something to do. A way to feel useful.” 

“Well, you definitely found it,” Steve tells her, giving her a grin. “Sharon says you just need a couple of months to lay low and recover.” 

“Yeah,” Zondra confirms, though she doesn’t sound confident. “Just uh...trying to get my head back on straight after everything. A little PT, and then back to work.” She looks at him curiously. “But you’re retired, aren’t you?” 

“Semi,” Steve grins sheepishly. “I promised Fury that if he ever needed me again, I’d be around. All of the original Avengers did. And I’m sure someone will ask me to go to DC to some sort of security or defense meeting at some point. But other than that, it’s just me and Maggie and the garden. And it’s been good. It uh…” he looks off into the distance, at the view quietly for a moment. “It’s not quite the retirement I’d hoped for from before I went in the ice. But it’s a nice way to spend my days. Can’t...can’t really complain.” 

“But you’re not happy,” Zondra says.

He gives her a weak smile. “Sure I am.” He gets to his feet, draining his beer. “Why don’t I wash out your sauce pot, and pack you up some extra cookies to take home, and we can call it a night.” 

“Sure,” Zondra says, watching him for a long moment as he heads back inside. 

She follows eventually.

***** 

A few days later, Zondra steps into the garden with two enormous tomato plants and sets them down. 

“Okay,” she says. “How do I garden?” 

Steve blinks and laughs, a little bewildered. “Uh...well…?” 

“Look, if I’m gonna perfect my Nonna's sauce recipe, I gotta have fresh tomatoes,” Zondra tells him. “So teach me how to do the plant thing.” 

He can’t help another laugh, but he gets to his feet and starts showing her how. Steve gets the feeling he’ll be the one taking care of these behemoths, but it’s hard to complain. They are nice, and he loves a good tomato. 

“Where’s Maggie?” Zondra asks, as they kneel next to each other in the dirt. 

“Playing with Morgan,” Steve tells her. “Happy’s got ‘em for the day, now that Tony and Pepper are both back to work.” 

“Nice,” Zondra says. “You uh...you get a lot of days or nights without her?” 

“I can,” Steve shrugs. “Maggie and Morgan have become, and I quote ‘besty friends.’ So if I need some time, or if Tony and Pepper need some time, it’s never hard to manage. Add to that a bevy of babysitters...Harley, Peter, Cassie...as long as they get full run of the video games at Tony’s place and are paid a fair wage, they’re usually fine with keeping an eye on ‘em.” 

Zondra stays silent, digging in the soil.

“Why?” Steve asks. 

She shrugs, looking a little nervous, which is a surprise. “I dunno. The other night was fun. I thought maybe you and I could go out sometime.” 

Steve blinks, narrowing his eyes. “Like a...date?” 

“Yeah,” Zondra nods. “Like that. Like a date.” 

“Oh.” 

“You can say no,” she says quickly. “I get it if you were just being nice because Maggie wanted to-” 

“I’d love to,” Steve cuts her off. “Nobody uh...Nobody’s ever asked me out on a date before.” 

Zondra laughs softly. “Seriously? With the face and the eyes and the body? Nobody’s ever…?” 

“One girl stole a kiss once,” Steve admits, feeling his ears turn red at the compliment. “It was very strange. But no. I’ve never been asked on a date before.” 

“Then consider this me asking you out on a date, Rogers.” 

Steve smiles. “You’re on, Rizzo.” 

***** 

Maggie sleeps over at the tower with Morgan, and Steve and Zondra go on their date.

And it…

It goes really well. 

Zondra is funny and smart and a little snarky, but just enough. She’s still pretty, and she’s intuitive and easy to talk to. 

Steve liked Sharon a lot, but not like this. 

They find out they were both raised Catholic, with strict, but kind mothers. Zondra’s dad died of cancer when she was a teenager. Steve’s died of mustard gas before he was born. She has two sisters (“Nuts. Way too energetic for their own good. Helen does charity work, and Jess owns her own bakery back in Detroit.”), and he’s got Bucky (“He calls just about every day to make sure I haven’t gone nuts and Maggie’s still alive.”), and Sam (“He’s taking up the shield now. He keeps calling to ask me if he’s doin’ it right.”), and it’s....

It’s kinda great. 

When they get back to the building, he walks her to her door. They both go quiet for a long moment, before laughing softly. 

“This was good,” Steve tells her, smiling. “Thank you for asking me out.” 

“We should do it again,” Zondra tells him. “I had fun.” 

Steve nods, still smiling; smiling like he hasn’t in a long time. “I did, too.” He starts to step away, to go home. “I’ll see you later, Zondra.” 

She gives him a look like he’s crazy, and the silliest man on earth. “Seriously, Rogers?” 

He freezes. “What? What’d I do?” 

“No goodnight kiss?” Zondra asks, lifting a playful eyebrow.

“Oh,” Steve says, surprised, walking back over. “I uh...I was...I guess I was…” 

Zondra grins at him. “Shut up so I can kiss you now?” 

Steve nods dumbly. “Okay.” 

It’s a great kiss. Soft, and he takes his time, which, Steve has to admit, he hasn’t really ever been able to do.

He’s always kissed in a rush.

This feels different. 

When it ends, Steve keeps his eyes closed, but lets out a breath. 

“G’night, Rogers,” Zondra says. 

When he opens his eyes, she’s already heading into her apartment and closing the door. He sighs again, rubs his face, and heads up the stairs. 

This time, he doesn’t bang his head against the door.


End file.
